His struggling new limo business was gaining some much-needed momentum. In August, he was poised to marry his girlfriend of four years.

“He seemed so happy,” his younger brother, James Mansilla, said. “It seemed like things were finally starting to pick up.”

But on June 12, the 39-year-old was fatally shot while driving on Route 80 in Saddle Brook. He was driving a client back to Hackensack from the Wet Gentleman’s Club in Belleville when gunshots were fired into his GMC Yukon near milepost 63. Mansilla managed to pull over, and swapped seats with another acquaintance sitting in the front passenger seat, New Jersey State Police said. The acquaintance, who police will not identify, drove Mansilla to Hackensack University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Much remains unclear about the killing. No arrests have been made, and authorities have released few details on the homicide investigation. Mansilla's family has also largely been left in the dark as to what led up to the shooting and who is responsible.

“This terrible person is still walking the streets,” James Mansilla said. “I hope justice is served, and I hope that this man doesn’t have the privilege of walking this Earth freely. He doesn’t belong here — he belongs in jail. “

Family members said that the person picked up from the strip club was a regular client of Jeff's, but they didn't know anything about the acquaintance who was also in the cab at the time of the shooting. State police have refused to identify the two passengers. Calls to the club on Tuesday weren't returned.

When troopers told Stephen Mansilla, Jeff Mansilla's other younger brother, what had happened, he didn't believe it. He said that still, nearly two weeks later, he catches himself checking his phone for missed calls or text messages from Jeff.

“You see it in movies, and you hear about it in the news, but you never expect it to hit home, ” he said. “And then you’re put in the position where you can’t control it. I’m numb to the world right now.”

He said that his brother was an innocent victim, who seemed to be in the "wrong place at the wrong time" the night of the shooting.

“Do I believe he was a target? Absolutely not,” he said. "They got the wrong guy. He was too good of a person to be taken like that. All he did was work.”

Jeff Mansilla grew up in Hackensack, the oldest brother to James, Stephen and Bryan Mansilla. For a while, he worked as a cab driver, but he started his own business, All Access Car & Limo Company, roughly eight months ago, his brothers said.

At first, business was slow. Ultimately, he didn't want to be a cab driver — he wanted to run the company and hire other drivers. In the beginning, this goal seemed far off. But, in recent months, he was bringing in more clients. He was very busy, family members said, but also excited. His long-distance girlfriend, Irina Plamadeala, recently became his wife-to-be and moved to Hackensack from Moldova. The couple was planning an August wedding.

The two met four years ago, and got engaged in April, Plamadeala said. Shortly after the engagement, she moved from her home in Moldova to Hackensack, but they planned to hold the wedding in her home country, since her parents still live there, she said.

“He was my everything," Plamadeala said. "He was my life.”

She said that the cab business was tough at first for Jeff, but that he seemed "on top of the world" in the past month. She described Jeff as a caring person, and said he did everything he could to make her happy. Now, she plans to move back to Moldova, but not until she finds out what happened to her fiancé.

“There’s no life here without him,” she said. “But I can’t leave without knowing what happened.”

Mansilla grew up in Hackensack, attending Holy Trinity School, and later, Bergen Technical School and Bergen County Community College. Growing up, Jeff loved music, his brothers said. When he was younger, he converted his father's basement into a recording studio, where he'd craft rap and R&B tracks.

Also when he was younger, Jeff Mansilla had a few legal problems.

He was sentenced in 1997 to three years of probation on an attempted burglary charge, according to court records. In 2003, he got two years on probation for a marijuana possession charge. A spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Corrections said there was no record of Mansilla serving any prison time. Stephen Mansilla said he didn't know much about these convictions, but said they were very much in his brother's past, referring to them as "stupid kid stuff." Jeff's focus had since shifted, he said.

Family members repeatedly referred to Jeff as a family man. They said he always made time to visit relatives, and loved spending time with his nephews. He also looked forward to having children of his own someday.

“He loved unconditionally,” James Mansilla said. “He was a real person. It was no gimmicks. What you see is what you get”